Round-Up: Driffield overcome sin-bin trouble

Old Crossleyans 23

Driffield 30

OLD Crossleyans were beaten at home by Driffield, and only just managed to scrape a losing bonus point at the close.

The home side were one of a number of clubs to have been out of action since November while Driffield had managed one first team outing during the snow-ravaged calendar of December.

That extra touch of fitness from the visitors proved to be the difference but Crossleyans started the brighter, despite falling behind to a converted try by Ryan Girking on four minutes.

Nine minutes later, the home side were awarded a penalty try following an attempted pushover, player-coach Chris Jones converting. Six minutes later, they took the lead and the score to 12-7 when No 6 Navneet Senbi stormed through between the posts and the advantage was stretched to 10 points on 32 minutes when Jones broke through the defensive line to score.

It was only three minutes, however, before Driffield changed the face of the game. First, No 10 Karl Birch was able to find space and score to make it 17-12. Then, with half-time approaching, winger Harvey Harding got in on the act by adding his side's third try. Full-back Lee Birch converted to give the visitors an unexpected 19-17 lead going into the second half.

On the hour, Jones put his side back in front by a point with a penalty and, with Driffield having two men sent to the sin-bin, the advantage seemed to be shifting back in Old Crossleyans' favour.

However, it was the visitors who continued to add to their score with two penalties by Birch putting them back in front at 25-20.

Seven minutes from the end and still one man short, Driffield went on to score their fourth bonus-point try of the game when Alistair McClaren found the extra yard to power beyond the hosts' defence. Crossleyans did manage to rack up one further penalty through Jones six minutes into stoppage time to ensure at least one point for their efforts. Crossleyans travel to Percy Park next week.

Old Brodleians 3

Percy Park 12

BRODS slipped to a narrow defeat at home to second-placed Percy Park and will have felt aggrieved to have missed out on at least a losing bonus point.

The home side played down the slope in the first half, looking to build an advantage, and started in the best possible manner with a penalty from No 8 Ollie Ackroyd.

Both sides showed some solid defensive work as the half progressed and chances were few and far between.

However, a mistake from Brods gifted the opposition the lead at the break. A mix-up at the back allowed Percy Park to hack the ball on from an innocuous position and they raced through to score, adding the conversion to make it 7-3.

The game continued in much the same vein after the interval with defences on top and neither side able to carve out any genuine opportunities.

The score remained the same until stoppage time when a blindside break allowed Percy Park to race 40 metres for the final score of the match, at the same time denying Old Brodleians a bonus point.

The North One East games involving Cleckheaton, Wheatley Hills and Pontefract were all postponed due to the weather.

Magners League: Graeme Morrison could miss Scotland's RBS Six Nations campaign after injuring his knee playing for Glasgow against Edinburgh.

The 28-year-old centre suffered a ligament injury in the Warriors' December 27 win over Edinburgh and missed the return clash and Saturday's 22-20 loss at Munster.

Glasgow head coach Sean Lineen said Morrison, who has been a crucial part of Scotland's successes under Andy Robinson, would be out for "weeks rather than months", but an eight-week lay-off could leave him struggling to play at all in the tournament.

"I like to think of myself as a quick healer," Morrison said. "I've done this on the other knee before and I was back before they predicted. I'm hoping it will be around six to eight weeks, which would give me a chance to play in some of the Six Nations.

"I've been playing well this season, so to have this is a bit of a setback, but I'll just do my best to get back on the pitch."

Scotland open their Six Nations campaign in France on February 5, with the final game coming at home to Italy on March 19.

The Scarlets halted Edinburgh's impressive run of five home league wins with a 21-16 win, despite an error strewn performance at a sub-zero Murrayfield.